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Danger: Casual Background Checks on Social Media

Special from the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, Las Vegas The biggest mistake I see managers making is failure to document, says attorney Molly DiBianca, member of the Employers Counsel Network (BLR/M. Lee Smith’s network of attorneys from all 50 states). And the number two mistake is casual background checks on social media. DiBianca’s remarks came at […]

Obesity: Big ADA Problem for Employers

by Jennifer L. Anderson A federal court in New Orleans recently paved the way for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to move forward with an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) lawsuit on behalf of a severely obese employee. Whether obesity is a disability under the ADA and what an obese employee must prove to […]

Obama Signs PACE Act Repealing ACA Small-Group Expansion

On Oct. 7, 2015, President Obama signed, without comment, the Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees Act, which amends the Affordable Care Act’s definition of a “small-group,” a move intended to force mid-sized companies into providing richer coverage to workers. The PACE Act (H.R. 1624 and S. 1099) repeals the mandatory expansion of the small group […]

Working late at the office

What message are you sending about what is important?

Two of my colleagues forwarded me a recent New York Times article about the temptation of managers to reward employees who work long hours instead of those who produce results. Maybe they were trying to send me a not-so-subtle message! The article cited a study published in 2010 in which researchers found that employees who […]

Clear offer of employment needed to argue mitigation

By Katherine Pollock Want to change a Canadian employee’s terms or conditions of employment? It’s not as easy as it once was. Depending on the nature of the change, it may amount to constructive dismissal. If it does amount to constructive dismissal, simply providing notice of the change may not be sufficient—as the Court of […]

Technology Can Help Employees Keep Their Health-Related New Year’s Resolutions

It’s that time of year again when employees make resolutions to be a better—and healthier—person in the New Year by changing some of their behavior. According to a recent Marist Poll, health-related resolutions ranked at the top with respondents, including losing weight, exercising more, quitting smoking, improving overall health, and eating healthier foods.

Discrimination: EEOC Settles Big Race and National Origin Bias Suits

Over the last few weeks, several multimillion-dollar race and national origin settlements and verdicts have hit the headlines. The recent developments—all involving cases brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)—serve as reminders to all employers of the need to train managers on preventing workplace bias and to respond promptly and effectively to employee […]

Who’s Owed Unpaid Overtime in Your Organization?

Changes to overtime rules have been in place since 2004 , yet employers are getting tripped up for big-dollar lawsuits with increasing frequency. What’s up with that? Just a few examples from recent headlines: • McLand, a wholesale distributor of food and grocery products, pays $1.5 million in overtime to “retail merchandising specialists.” • Allied […]

New York Employer Learns Costly Lesson About Paying the Correct Prevailing Wage Rate

By Zachary D. Morahan, Coughlin & Gerhart, LLP “Prevailing wages” are the premium wage rates paid to employees who perform labor on a “public” project, often a construction or highway project. Employers in the construction trade know all too well that the failure to pay the correct prevailing wage can have dire consequences, regardless of […]